My Friends,
I first have to give glory to God for the amazing things he has been doing in my life right now. He knew what He was doing when He sent me here and for those of you that are doubting, I can assure you that His plan is better and in always perfect! I hope and pray that this finds all of you well as you go about your days over the summer. God has kept me well and in all ways I am healthy and able to praise Him. Right now I have some time to give you a short update on what has been going on.
The last time I wrote I was still in the States. Now I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Lodwar, Kenya. How fast things have changed. I've been in Kenya now for about ten days and I've learned so much. I feel like I've been here for so much longer. The days seem to take longer here which may be because it is too hot to work during the middle of the day so you can only rest. There is a lot of resting in Kenya. I had forgotten about that. It just gets too hot to work, so you try and find some shade, put something over your face so the flies do not bother you, and then try and take a nap for a bit. This is what most of the locals do but I have found it hard for me to nap. Because of the heat I wake up feeling worse then when I went to sleep. So instead I have been reading or continuing to work on the projects we have here.
For those of you that don't know, the last time I was here was with a group out of Clemson. We came to the region of Turkana to help with building a School/Church and also with evangelizing and playing with the kids. When we left last time, there was only about 4 feet of wall around the church building and the only thing completed was the roof. Now though, it's completely done and wow! All I can say is that the building is beautiful and a testimony to God's faithfulness. For those of you that were on the trip with me, I can't wait to show you a picture of the school! Your jaw will drop! The walls are completely finished, there are windows and doors put in, and their is a smooth floor inside. And now they have tables and benches for the school kids as well as a blackboard for the teacher to use. It is absolutly incredible what all has been done during the 5 months since I was last here. But there is still even more work to do.
Now that the school house is complete, we are going to build an assembly area as well as a field for the kids to play soccer on! God has really blessed this community! The school program is taking shape and the kids are learning! There is only one teacher there now but BOL plans to bring in another teacher so that they can seperate the older and younger kids. Now when the kids go to school, they are learning to write, perform math calculations, as well two meals while they are there. In the morning the kids are served something called sour porridge. I tried some of it and it tasted gross to me but Duncan, one of the missionsaries, as well as the teacher assure me it tastes good to them as they drink it themselves. The kids also get a lunch of corn and beans cooked into a kind of mashed paste. This is much more food then they would ever get on just food relief missions! And the best part of it, they are learning about Jesus and His love for them!
The community is growing and it is very exciting to be able to come back and see many more huts around the area. Not only is the Spirit drawing people in but God has been blessing theses people with water. Recently the well ran dry and for a week they only had limited water. But through prayer the Lord provided water for them in the form of rain! It has been very strange but very encouraging to come and see that some of the tress and bushes are green! What a site in Turkana! I was blessed yesterday with the chance to see something incredible. Several night ago it rained. The rain from the mountains has been filling the river ever since. I couldn't believe that what I was seeing when I went to the river and saw a strong flowing river instead of a dried up river bed!
I can't wait to tell you all more of what has been going on but also what the Lord has been teaching me. I feel that He is leading me to post each of my daily journals so I will be praying more about that as well as getting them up when I have the chance. I will only be in Turkana for a few more days before we had to a small village in Sudan called Korokomunge. I think it is fairly close to the border but I won't be able to say for sure until I get there. I will spend two weeks there with Duncan, Joel, and William. I'm very excited about it. Though I don't know quite how to react to knowing that most of the people there do not wear clothes... I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I will continue to keep all of you in my prayers and ask that the Lord blesses the time you spend with Him over the summer! I love you all and can't wait to tell you more!!
With love in Christ Jesus,
CT
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
For the Elephant Lovers out There.
For those of you out there that love elephants (you know who you are), I saw a herd ( I suppose that is what a group of elephants is called) the last time I was in Kenya. At the end of the mission trip I went on over Christmas break we got to participate in one of those once-in-a-lifetime events. A safari! It was the wildest sensation to see all of the animals that are on the Discovery Channel in person. Wild and weird at the same time. We saw hippos, lions, water buffalos, and an amazing herd of elephants. Our guide told us that each herd is lead by the oldest female, or matriarch. I can't remember if this picture is of her or not but her tusks were easily 3 feet long! They are such amazing creatures, and huge too! Let these creatures stand as testament to the unlimited creativity of our blessed Creator!I love you guys and hope that everyone is having a great and blessed time back home with their families! If you're not back home with your birth family then I pray that you still find joy with the family you have around you!
Peace to all of you in Christ Jesus,
CT
P.S. I got my ticket for when I'm leaving. I fly out of Atlanta at 11 pm this Thursday! Goodness I still have a lot of packing to do!!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
A Mission Ordained
I still can hardly believe that I'm actually going back to Kenya. That within a week or two, I'll be sitting (or maybe standing, who knows) somewhere in Kenya. I'm honestly dumbfounded at how fast this has been moving along. I would be foolish to not realize that God is sending me and has ordained this trip. I just want to take a minute to look at just how supernatural this whole thing is.
Alright, so for starters, my application. Normally, when a person wants to go work with Bread of Life, they have to submit their application for the internship at least 3 months before the proposed trip. For me, I submitted mine just under 3 weeks before I wanted to go to Kenya. That shouldn't have worked at all. However, the point of the application is mostly so that the staff can learn the applicants heart for missions. I had already gone on a mission trip (Christmas break with Clemson FCA) through BOL and so I already knew one of the staff members and they knew me. They already knew how much I loved missions and how I just want to bring love and the Gospel to the people of Kenya. So 2 weeks after I submitted my application, they let me know that everyone had signed off on it and that I was good to go pending money, shots, and a plane ticket. I can only praise God for how he honored my request and spoke to the hearts of the staff at BOL.
Second, the money. Arguably the hardest part about any mission trip is the fundraising involved before hand. If you have ever had to raise money for something, you know what I'm talking about. Actually raising the money (which usually consists of mailing out support letters) isn't physically taxing in any way, but it can end up being a major point of stress and frustration when it comes down to the line for getting money in. That's usually the time when faith is tested. There's nothing you can do so you have to trust that God isn't going to open the door and then not let you through. You might be wondering how I was able to raise the money for this trip in just two weeks ( submitted 3 weeks away and then got confirmation a week later), and it's a good question. This time though, God worked things out in a way that I wasn't expecting.
This past semester (spring 2011) I participated in a cooperative education program, better known as a Co-Op, instead of taking classes. I can safely say that working 40 hours a week instead of taking classes wasn't what I expected to be doing. But God had a plan for me that I was completely unaware of. See, this program was and is designed for students looking to get an edge into the job market as well as gaining some real world experience in their respective field. I worked at AFL, a fiber optic cable manufacturing company, up in Duncan, SC. Working as a process engineer gave me a chance to learn what I liked about the job, and my major in general, and also what I didn't want to be doing for a career. For those of you that are wondering, this was a paid program and I'm so glad that I was obedient and didn't spend the money right away (no expenses and a paying job = way more money than I needed and a huge temptation to spend spend spend). The reason I say this is because I now realize the why I got the job in the first place. It was this job that paid for me to be able to go to Kenya. What I'm saying is that at this very moment, I already have all the money that I need for the entire trip. I don't have to go through the time consuming process of trying to raise the money (which is such a blessing because I wouldn't have had time to do it if I had to!). Never do I want to doubt that God's plan is the best, that His plan is perfect. There's no way I could have planned that. But He didn't just work out the application process and the money...
If you have ever traveled out of the country, then you know that it usually comes hand in hand with an extensive resume of medications and vaccinations. Let me say that if the first place you go out of the country to is Kenya, you should be prepared to get yourself pricked, a lot! Off the top of my head some of the vaccinations that one needs to get into Kenya are Hep A, Hep B, Tetanus, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Polio, and one or two others that are escaping me. Of course then once you've gotten all of those you also have to get malaria prevention pills that could very possibly leave you in another country having day-mares (I've luckily managed to avoid those). Needless to say this can end up being a lengthy, and possibly expensive, process. God already had me set up for this one though. Like I mentioned earlier, I went on a mission trip with Clemson FCA to Kenya, which means that I already had all of the necessary shots. The only thing I needed was the malaria meds which I now have in my possession and happened to be the least expensive one to acquire. God is so good. He's had all of this planned out from the beginning and I can't wait to see what He has in store in Kenya.
I really want this blog to be an encouragement to everyone that reads it. I want people to not see me, and what I'm doing, but instead be inspired and stirred to action by what God has done through me. One thing that I keep being reminded of is that all of this, the entire idea of a ministry in Kenya, of bringing people to Christ, would be impossible without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Human hands can do nothing to save and mine are no different. But I desire, I long for the Spirit to use me in ways that I can only give the glory and praise to the Father! I want you to read these stories of the Spirit's power, Christ's love, and the Father's sovereignty, and through them I want your faith to grow; to know in your mind and believe in your heart that God is alive and working in ways that we can't even begin to fathom. That not only is He constantly working to bring the lost back to Himself, but that He has called you and me to an amazing life, the privilege of acting as His hands and feet to go out and pour out His love on those around us. The last thing I want is for you to read this and become jealous or discouraged because that's not why I wrote this at all. I want each and every one of you to be able to join me on an amazing journey in faith. Together, I want us to learn about ourselves and our hearts. I want to grow with you and learn to trust God more and more. I want you to open your heart and in each story listen to the Spirit moving in you. I know that I still have so much to learn about Him, but I also know that where ever He takes you and me, what ever His plans are, they are going to be wild, glorious, and full of Him.
Peace be with you in Christ Jesus, our beloved Savior
I love you all and I will keep you in my prayers
CT
Second, the money. Arguably the hardest part about any mission trip is the fundraising involved before hand. If you have ever had to raise money for something, you know what I'm talking about. Actually raising the money (which usually consists of mailing out support letters) isn't physically taxing in any way, but it can end up being a major point of stress and frustration when it comes down to the line for getting money in. That's usually the time when faith is tested. There's nothing you can do so you have to trust that God isn't going to open the door and then not let you through. You might be wondering how I was able to raise the money for this trip in just two weeks ( submitted 3 weeks away and then got confirmation a week later), and it's a good question. This time though, God worked things out in a way that I wasn't expecting.
This past semester (spring 2011) I participated in a cooperative education program, better known as a Co-Op, instead of taking classes. I can safely say that working 40 hours a week instead of taking classes wasn't what I expected to be doing. But God had a plan for me that I was completely unaware of. See, this program was and is designed for students looking to get an edge into the job market as well as gaining some real world experience in their respective field. I worked at AFL, a fiber optic cable manufacturing company, up in Duncan, SC. Working as a process engineer gave me a chance to learn what I liked about the job, and my major in general, and also what I didn't want to be doing for a career. For those of you that are wondering, this was a paid program and I'm so glad that I was obedient and didn't spend the money right away (no expenses and a paying job = way more money than I needed and a huge temptation to spend spend spend). The reason I say this is because I now realize the why I got the job in the first place. It was this job that paid for me to be able to go to Kenya. What I'm saying is that at this very moment, I already have all the money that I need for the entire trip. I don't have to go through the time consuming process of trying to raise the money (which is such a blessing because I wouldn't have had time to do it if I had to!). Never do I want to doubt that God's plan is the best, that His plan is perfect. There's no way I could have planned that. But He didn't just work out the application process and the money...
If you have ever traveled out of the country, then you know that it usually comes hand in hand with an extensive resume of medications and vaccinations. Let me say that if the first place you go out of the country to is Kenya, you should be prepared to get yourself pricked, a lot! Off the top of my head some of the vaccinations that one needs to get into Kenya are Hep A, Hep B, Tetanus, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Polio, and one or two others that are escaping me. Of course then once you've gotten all of those you also have to get malaria prevention pills that could very possibly leave you in another country having day-mares (I've luckily managed to avoid those). Needless to say this can end up being a lengthy, and possibly expensive, process. God already had me set up for this one though. Like I mentioned earlier, I went on a mission trip with Clemson FCA to Kenya, which means that I already had all of the necessary shots. The only thing I needed was the malaria meds which I now have in my possession and happened to be the least expensive one to acquire. God is so good. He's had all of this planned out from the beginning and I can't wait to see what He has in store in Kenya.
I really want this blog to be an encouragement to everyone that reads it. I want people to not see me, and what I'm doing, but instead be inspired and stirred to action by what God has done through me. One thing that I keep being reminded of is that all of this, the entire idea of a ministry in Kenya, of bringing people to Christ, would be impossible without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Human hands can do nothing to save and mine are no different. But I desire, I long for the Spirit to use me in ways that I can only give the glory and praise to the Father! I want you to read these stories of the Spirit's power, Christ's love, and the Father's sovereignty, and through them I want your faith to grow; to know in your mind and believe in your heart that God is alive and working in ways that we can't even begin to fathom. That not only is He constantly working to bring the lost back to Himself, but that He has called you and me to an amazing life, the privilege of acting as His hands and feet to go out and pour out His love on those around us. The last thing I want is for you to read this and become jealous or discouraged because that's not why I wrote this at all. I want each and every one of you to be able to join me on an amazing journey in faith. Together, I want us to learn about ourselves and our hearts. I want to grow with you and learn to trust God more and more. I want you to open your heart and in each story listen to the Spirit moving in you. I know that I still have so much to learn about Him, but I also know that where ever He takes you and me, what ever His plans are, they are going to be wild, glorious, and full of Him.
Peace be with you in Christ Jesus, our beloved Savior
I love you all and I will keep you in my prayers
CT
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